Chapter 157: Battle Clouds Gather

Tearing off the rì calendar placed on the table, a big number 28 was displayed in front of Huo Shan's eyes! Looking at the rì calendar in front of him intently, Huo Shan understood that today was the decisive battle between the two fleets! It was also the rì of the final rise of the Huo Jiajun Navy! It was also the rì that determined the final ownership of the East Indies!

For today, he has been arming for more than two years, as long as he crosses today's hurdle, then Huo Jiajun's future rì will be even easier!

With a gentle sigh, Huo Shan stood up from the desk, walked out of the door and looked at the newborn sun in the distance, stretching his waist greatly! Now, he has done everything he can do, and the rest is up to the navy itself!

On the same day, British Prime Minister Gladstone, French President Fowler Grevy, and German Prime Minister Bismarck all went into their offices to check whether there was any news from the Far East on their desks! They had already received a telegram from the joint expeditionary forces of the Netherlands and Portugal! It was now the eighth day, and according to the speed of the fleets of the two countries, they were not far from the island of Java! Compared with them, the United States, Russia, and Russia, which had no colonies in the East Indies, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and other countries are less concerned about the war! In their view, the huge navy and army united by the two countries and the Chinese indigenous army that swept through the South Seas should have no problem at all, and they will not show concern for a war that has no surprises at all!

Looking at the eight Chinese People's Army warships following behind his fleet, Blake's worry could not be suppressed! Although in the meantime, Welbeck had proposed to him to send a fleet here to expel these warships that had always been glued behind them, but Blake, who had already lost five ironclad ships, finally did not agree!

Now he is completely no longer satisfied with the ambition he had when he was the commander of the joint expeditionary force of the two countries, and he has even begun to wonder whether the landing operation launched by the two countries will be as successful as he had expected!

Looking at the commander with a long beard and a short sigh, Welbeck looked complicated, and stopped talking several times, but in the end he still didn't say it! The eight battleships behind him, all the soldiers on the three battleships of the Netherlands, Portugal, and Britain, France, and Germany saw it! They really wondered if it was the five battleships that were engaged with the five Dutch ironclad ships, and why there was really nothing wrong with the other battleships except for the battleship marked HY001, which looked a little damaged on the side of the battleship! This really made people feel a little incredible! At the same time, it also made all the officers and soldiers who saw all this begin to speculate whether there are more Chinese and People's Army warships behind these eight warships waiting for the combined fleet of the Netherlands and Portugal from afar!

In addition, it is really difficult to find an unconvincing reason, and this time even Welbeck, who was very confident in his own fleet, lost confidence a little after seeing the eight steel warships that were almost intact! It can be seen from this how much panic their appearance caused to the officers and men of the escort fleets of the two navies!

"Commander! Maybe we can skip the Sunda Strait! We can bypass the island of Java and land in Batavia from the Bali Strait, the Lombok Strait, or the Arras Strait, so that we can avoid the enemy's possible interception fleet on the island of Java and ensure the smooth landing of our army! At that time, we will no longer have the shackles of protecting the transport fleet, and we will be able to fight with the Chinese fleet with all our might! I believe that with the superiority in the number of warships, we will definitely win the final victory in this naval battle!" After hesitating for a while, Welbeck gritted his teeth and said.

Ever since he saw more and more Chinese warships joining the tracking team, he began to suspect that the Chinese People's Army had probably guessed the route of their operation and the final landing place from the course of their fleet! Otherwise, how could their warships accurately find the escort fleets of their two countries in the vast ocean!

It was with this consideration that he suspected that the Chinese People's Army had set a trap on the course of their advance, just waiting for them to take the bait!

At this time, however, Welbeck's proposal was a good solution to the problem, as long as they bypassed the island of Java, they would be able to land on the island of Java from between the Nusa Tenggara archipelago, which had many shipping lanes! At that time, without the drag of 50,000 troops and supplies on the transport ships, they could completely give free hold to the enemy's navy!

He believed that even if China had more warships, it would not be possible to reach the scale of 50 in two years! Therefore, they might really be able to rely on their superiority in the number and tonnage of warships to defeat the navy of the Chinese People's Army and complete the original strategic plan!

So, after thinking about it for a while, Blake looked at Verbeck with a solemn expression and said, "Mike, this is a very good suggestion, I agree! Now you yourself go and report our consideration to the Portuguese, and get their consent!"

"I understand, General!, I'll go!" said Welbeck with joy when he heard that his plan had finally been approved.

"Hmm!

"Captain, we have received a wireless telegram from the flagship of the ambush fleet, Wang Qian!" Chen Changshan said happily as he walked into the command tower!

Hearing his words, Chen Jin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and asked calmly: "Where have they arrived, and how many hours are they expected to attack the Dutch and Portuguese fleets?"

"Now the 12 warships of the ambush fleet have reached a position of 100 nautical miles in front of the fleets of the two countries! It is expected that in two hours and 40 minutes, the two sides will be able to enter the circle! In three hours, we will be able to start a full-scale war!" Chen Changshan replied with a smile.

After taking the telegram in his hand, Chen Jin read it carefully, and the look on his face gradually became a little solemn!

"It seems that we should prepare well! After this battle, we will probably be ordered to retire! Therefore, we must seize this opportunity to participate in the last battle, and do not let ourselves be left with regrets!"

Hearing his words, the smile on Chen Changshan's face gradually disappeared!

"Hehe, yes! We will retire after the war! Chen Jin has thought about what he will do when he comes out of the army?" At this time, Chen Changshan also began to really let go of everything!

"Well, it's been two years since I joined the army from my hometown in Fujian, and I haven't been back! This time, our army is going to go back! Moreover, I have also paid some wages in the past two years, so I will go back to subsidize my family's situation, and by the way, I will find a school in my hometown, and I will become a teacher in the future!" Chen Jin said lightly.

"It's really a bit condescending for you, the captain of the navy, to become a teacher! But when I heard you say this, why am I also moved!" Chen Changshan replied with a smile on his face.

"It just so happens that you will also take your wife and children to Fujian with me! When the time comes, we will be together again!" said this, Chen Jin's face showed a rare happy smile!

"Haha, we've been classmates for more than two years, and to be honest, I'm really a little reluctant to let you kid, so it's decided! But after I go, you have to find me a place to live! Otherwise, I'll have to live in your house!"

"Okay, I can't ask for it!"